A New Beginning
by Mizuki99
Summary: Tsuna and Reborn have a late night talk after they get back from the future. Future Conflicts Aftermath. Drabble. R27 if you squint.


**_Author's Note:_**What the hell is up with all these drabbles? I don't even... I should be working on finishing Darkest Fire and Darkness of the Vongola but this... craving to write fluff keeps interfering with my plans! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, HALLMARK CHANNEL! YOU AND YOUR COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS!

R27 if you squint.

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At first, it was hard to tell what woke Reborn up. Reborn was used to the noises of a normal household at night so he didn't stir at the smallest noises anymore and the youngest Sawada didn't snore for reasons beyond Reborn's knowledge—apparently it was something that went along with Dying Will Flame users. His student's soft breaths usually lulled him into a true state of sleep, doubly so since they came back from their impromptu trip to the future only a week previously.

Then he realized. It was the inherit absence of that breathing that woke Reborn.

Fully intent on looking for his student, Reborn sat up to see that he didn't have to look very far. Tsuna was only out on his balcony with a loose stance. Reborn sighed—how long has his student been doing this?

"Tsuna…" Reborn said, breaking the stillness of the air. Tsuna jumped slightly, turning back.

"Reborn…" Tsuna murmured. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

So apologetic. "What are you doing up?" Reborn asked, settling on the guard. It was cold and the pajamas he was wearing weren't warm enough to keep him from rubbing his hands together to restore the blood flow.

"Couldn't sleep." Tsuna replied and then he frowned. "Are you cold? Go back inside. I'll only be a moment."

"It's my job to make sure you don't get sick, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn replied with his matter-of-fact tone. Tsuna laughed softly—though the sound was more nervous than anything. Moving so that he was behind his teacher, Tsuna pulled him back so that Reborn could feel his warmth. "What—"

"Just stay like this." Tsuna said, his eyes hidden behind his copper fringe. His voice was quivering slightly and Reborn heard Tsuna's heart beating behind him. "For a little while… let's just… stay like this."

And for what felt like hours, Reborn and Tsuna stayed like that—Reborn in Tsuna's arms, absorbing his heat while Tsuna mulled in his, for once, unreadable thoughts. The sounds of the ever-busy business district were distant, almost unheard, but with heightened senses like Reborn's, they were still there and for the longest time, that's all Reborn listened to with the slow, steady bass of Tsuna's heartbeat. The near-silence was comfortable but Reborn's curiosity outweighed his sense of self-preservation in this case. Tsuna, the student that continuously mystified him with all of his contradictions, was not looking at him. Instead, he was looking at the star-jeweled night sky.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked. Tsuna's thin muscles twitched slightly indicating that Reborn had startled him.

"The future…" Tsuna said, not looking down at Reborn. In fact, his grip tightened around Reborn a bit but it wasn't painful. The young Don seemed to be working up the nerve for something. Reborn silently counted the seconds that passed until—

"Ne… Reborn… what… what happened when you… disappeared?"

Well… that was unexpected.

Reborn knew that Tsuna had used the word "disappeared" instead of "went to the future" because he didn't want to believe that that was their future.

"…I landed in the forest." Really. He didn't know why the words slipped out of his mouth. But… something… something about this just felt… right. "I blacked out… but before I blacked out, I remember seeing a coffin… it had… the Vongola symbol on it." '_And the smell of lilies._' Reborn thought.

Tsuna laughed but it was a wretched sound that grated against Reborn's heartstrings in a painful way. "It was mine…" Tsuna didn't look down so Reborn couldn't see his eyes.

'_I see, now. Tsuna knew I would ask why he was out here and doesn't want me reading his expressions… I'm onto you, Tsuna._' Reborn thought.

"Hey Reborn… in the beginning… when you didn't switch with your older self… for a brief moment… I felt dead." Tsuna was trembling. "I knew even before Gokudera-kun told me… what it meant when… you didn't switch." His lips were curled into a smile that was as real as Viper's illusions. "I didn't realize... how much I had come to rely on you being there, you know? I'd thought that… because you're appearance was that of a child… that I'd outlive you." His lips curled down. "But that future… a future where neither of us are alive… I don't want it. If it means I have to k-_kill_ to keep it from happening…"

Reborn's eyes narrowed. "Baka-Tsuna. Don't start talking big because of a future that's never going to happen. I told you. You're not capable of being a hero. The future is always changing in ways that we can't always predict and in this case, that's a good thing." A confident smirk played on his lips. "You don't have to worry about outliving me. Even death can't beat me."

"R-Reborn… a-are you saying…?" He trailed off.

"That's right." Reborn leaned back against Tsuna's heart, allowing his Will to overtake his flame so he could hold it out for Tsuna's to engulf. He'd only ever done this once for anyone and this was the last time he'd do it ever again. "You can't stop this future alone." '_And neither can I._' "But together… we'll make sure that something like that never happens again… even if it means that I have to kill the person that created the data that destroyed us to begin with." '_Arcobaleno pact be damned._'

A small sound burst from Tsuna's lips before it grew into laughter. When it finally died down, Tsuna was left smiling, the tear-tracks contrasting against it with disturbing starkness. "Thank you, Reborn."

And with a slow glimmer of light, the morning sun burst from behind the mountains and illuminated the sky with hues of orange and yellow signifying the start of a new day… and a new future.

_**Owari.**_

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**_Thanks for reading~!_**


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